AppNexus Sign 260 Publishers in Bid to Challenge Facebook and Google

AppNexus announced today that they signed up over 260 publishers in 2016, including News Corp, Gannett, Mashable, Slate, Genius, Bauer Xcel Media, Match Group and Resignation Media. The company has been aggressive in its attempts to demonstrate momentum in advance of its IPO, which is expected to take place at some point this year.

AppNexus have also been keen to position themselves as the industry’s open and independent monetisation partner for publishers. “We’re proud to be the leading monetization partner for the world’s independent publishers,” said Michael Rubenstein, President, AppNexus. “In an environment where just two media companies – Facebook and Google – command over half of incremental digital advertising dollars, it’s critically important that publishers regain parity by harnessing the power of machine learning and transacting in an open and transparent advertising marketplace. That’s where AppNexus fits in.”

AppNexus’s publisher offering is squarely aimed at competing with Google’s DFP product, which continues to enjoy a dominant position in the market in spite of publisher concerns about the growing dominance of Facebook and Google in the digital advertising market.

The company benefitted in 2016 from the rise of header bidding, which has quickly become the leading monetisation strategy for larger publishers. Last week AppNexus announced an expansion if their header bidding partnership with Index Exchange, which will now include the support of server-to-server integrations, meaning that both AppNexus and Index Exchange will work as partners in each other’s server-side solutions. Last year the two companies also agreed to support each other’s header-based wrapper.

As with traditional header bidding, server-to-server integrations run a unified auction in which supply side platforms (SSPs) act as demand sources and bid on a publisher’s inventory. However, the auction takes place in the technology provider’s server as opposed to the publisher’s header.

AppNexus say the server-to-server solution works best in a hybrid capacity with a traditional header bidding wrapper. Combining the two allows publishers the flexibility to use cookie matching with their header partners whilst simultaneously increasing bid density through their server partners, while managing latency and optimising revenue.